


two of a kind, move as one

by fangirl_squee



Category: Friends at the Table (Podcast)
Genre: M/M, Spoilers for bluff city (the finale/messy business and the fiasco zoo live ep)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-02
Updated: 2019-09-02
Packaged: 2020-10-05 13:44:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20489834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangirl_squee/pseuds/fangirl_squee
Summary: Tired of working in separate zoos, Dax and Darren look for somewhere hiring a duo.[REDACTED] is hiring.





	two of a kind, move as one

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Ele and Muna for the idea, which absolutely delighted me. 
> 
> Unbeted!!

"We should, like, get new jobs," says Dax. 

"Probably," says Darren, "but there aren't any other zoos in Bluff City."

"Then we should go somewhere else!" says Dax.

Dax sounds kind of mad, but Darren's knows that it's, like, anger at the  _ situation,  _ not  _ him.  _ It’s not like he doesn’t feel it - it totally sucks not working with Dax anymore, even if his current job is better than he was ever going to get at the Bluff City Zoo. He also knows that Dax isn’t mad at him because Dax puts a hand on his shoulder, as gently as if Darren were one of his Great Cats. 

Darren hits pause on the controller, tilting his head back to look at Dax. "Where would we even go?”

"I dunno man, I just-" Dax sighs. "Not working with you sucks. It's like… no one  _ gets  _ me at work anymore."

Darren nods. He gets that. Dax is a complex guy. 

"We could check online," says Darren, "I bet we can set up, like, an alert or whatever for places that have two jobs open."

Dax perks up. "Yeah?"

Darren grins. "Yeah!"

They pull out Dax's old laptop. Dax picks at the faded vinyl stickers as they wait for it to boot up. Darren tries to remember everything Boots told him about computers. He’s  _ pretty _ sure the alert thing is real.

There's not a lot of jobs going for two people, outside of casino work.

Dax makes a face. "I dunno, I don't want to be, like, stuck inside all day. Plus it's like, all shift work, so they'd probably put on at different times."

"That sucks," agrees Darren. His scans his eyes down the screen. "What about that one?"

"Drivers wanted," reads Dax, "Professional and discreet drivers wanted. Long term positions offered after probationary period. Ability to-” He grabs Darren’s shoulder, shaking him excitedly. “Dude! _ Ability to work in pairs a bonus _ !”

“Dude!”

Dax grins, turning back to the screen. “Yeah! Uh, then it says this organisation is unlisted- oh, that's just stuff about how you can't contact them, it's so weird how places do that."

“Totally,” says Darren.

He leans closer to read the listing. It’s pretty sparse apart from the few lines of text Dax already read, no breakdown of tasks like the casino jobs had. No wage bracket either. Darren hums.

"I dunno dude. I probably couldn't take a lower paying job and still make rent."

"It says  _ discreet _ though," says Dax, "Any time something is  _ discreet  _ it like, automatically means more money. Plus," he point at the screen, "working in pairs a bonus. Dude,  _ we're  _ a pair! We could get a bonus just from that!"

Darren nods. “You’re totally right.”

"I'm gonna apply," says Dax.

"Put my name down too," says Darren. 

Dax nods, clicking through to the application screen. "Ha! What'd I tell you dude?" He gestures at the screen. "No way does a place ask for this much information for something low paying."

"Yeah… hey, what's that logo?"

Dax frowns, squinting at the grey logo at the top of the screen. "Dunno. Government maybe?"

“Government… Dude," Darren grabs Dax's shoulder. "What if driver is just code for some, like, spy shit?"

Dax's eyes go wide, and he grabs Darren's shoulder again. "Dude!"

They both turn back to the screen. Darren can feel Dax's leg bounce, bumping against his under the table. He grins.

"Dude, we've  _ gotta  _ get this," says Dax, "We could be like… like… James Bonds."

"Yeah... " says Darren. He thinks for a moment, while Dax begins to slowly type out their details. "We should probably get suits."

"What?"

"I mean, that's what James Bond wears," says Darren, "It's like, classic spy-wear."

"Oh yeah," says Dax, "You wanna do that tomorrow? I can call out of work, or whatever."

"Yeah, I mean, I guess I'm not gonna need to work there much longer anyway," says Darren.

Dax smiles. "Cool."

Darren smiles back. "Cool."

He texts his boss that he thinks he's coming down with something.

"You wanna stay over?" says Dax, "Like, since you'd be coming back here tomorrow anyway."

"Yeah, I guess," says Darren. He sends the text, processing what Dax just said, looking up from his phone. "Yeah, that'd be cool, like, a proper hangout sesh."

"Yeah!" says Dax. 

The slope of his shoulders seem more relaxed, like when Darren used to calm the pekeries down after a storm.

Darren bumps their shoulders together. "Let me write the next bit."

They fill out the application together, submitting it under both their names. Dax's mom comes home after they're back to playing xbox, and they eagerly tell her about the new job opportunity they've discovered. She smiles, ruffling Dax's hair. He bats her hand away, but Darren can see him smiling even as he ducks his head. 

"You two will get it for sure," says Mrs Leopard. "Who would turn down two bright boys like you?"

"Yeah, exactly!" says Dax, "Darren's staying over tonight too, that's cool right?"

"Sure," says Mrs Leopard. "I'll get out the air mattress."

Darren nods, even though he never ends up using the air mattress. It always makes him too cold during the night, so he just shares the bed with Dax. They take it in turns to be the little spoon, or they used to. It's been a while since he stayed over. Darren starts feeling weirdly nervous about it, as they brush their teeth.

“Dude,” says Dax, “you okay?”

Darren shrugs, and spits in the sink.

“Don’t worry about the job stuff dude,” says Dax, “We’re totally going to crush it, like, there’s no way they won’t hire us.”

Darren nods. “Yeah, I mean, pairs a bonus, right?”

“Right!” says Dax, flicking toothpaste on the mirror as he gestures.

Darren wipes it off with a hand towel, because Mrs Leopard hates when they leave the bathroom a mess. Dax mumbles a thank you around a mouthful of toothpaste before he spits in the sink.

Dax heads to his bedroom first, flopping down on the bed and wrapping himself in the covers. The air mattress is on the ground next to his bed, all laid out with fresh sheets. Darren’s steps falter for a moment, looking between the mattress and Dax’s bed. He puts his backpack down on the air mattress.

“Hey is it cool if I-”

Dax wriggles backwards on the bed. “Come on dude, I’m not going to make you sleep on that thing. It’ll like, wicked mess up your back.”

“Thanks Dax.”

“Hey,” says Dax, flipping back the covers so Darren can climb in beside him, “any time.”

They both shift around, finding a comfortable position on the twin bed. They’re pressed close, but there’s no real way  _ not _ to be. Darren feels weirdly aware of everywhere Dax is pressed against him, familiar but also strange after months of separation. It’s not  _ bad _ , it’s just-

“You comfy dude?” says Dax.

“Yeah, you?”

“Yeah,” says Dax. he pauses. “You sure? You’re all like-” he pokes Darren’s shoulder, “like tense.”

Darren lets out a breath. Of  _ course _ Dax would notice, he’s basically the smartest person Darren has ever met after Boots. He rolls over in the bed, their faces close together on the shared pillow.

“I dunno,” says Darren, “it’s like… I guess it’s been a while since we hung out.”

Dax goes still. “Did- you can sleep on the air mattress if you  _ want _ dude, I just-”

“No!” says Darren, “Dude, it’s totally not that, I just… I dunno, I guess I’m feeling like, weird about everything changing.”

“Yeah, but it’s going to change for the better, right?” says Dax, “Because like, we’ll be working together again.”

“Yeah,” says Darren quietly. He pauses. “Dude, it’s been-”

“It sucks working without-” says Dax at the same time.

There’s a pause, and then they both laugh, trying to muffle themselves so they don’t wake Dax’s mom.

“Dude,” Darren manages.

“Dude,  _ same _ ,” says Dax.

They fall asleep facing each other, foreheads almost touching. They both breathe  _ terrible _ morning breath into each other’s faces in the morning, but it’s the most relaxed Darren has felt in  _ weeks _ .

They go suit shopping the next day, wandering up and down the boardwalk and ducking into alleyway when they think they see someone they work with, so they don’t get found out.

“This is like, spy practice, for that job,” says Darren.

“Dude, we’re so gonna ace that interview when we get it,” says Dax.

It’s a week before the email notification comes through. Dax texts him at work, a sunglasses guy emoji and two car emojis. Darren ducks out of the breakroom to call him, like,  _ immediately _ .

“Dude!” says Dax, as soon as he answers.

Darren laughs, Dax’s enthusiasm infectious as always. “ _ Dude _ !”

“We got it!”

“Wait, we  _ got _ it?”

“We got an interview,” says Dax, “but like, you  _ know _ we’re going to totally crush that, so we basically have it”

“Hell  _ yeah _ dude!”

Dax laughs, and Darren grins at the sound.

“And, get this, the interview is  _ tomorrow _ ,” says Dax.

“Oh my god they want to hire us so bad!” says Darren.

“Dude they so do!”

Darren laughs. There’s a pause, and Darren can picture the grin on Dax’s face, the glint in his eye he gets when one of his ideas totally works.

“Dude…” says Dax, “it’s good we already bought those suits.”

“We are going to roll into that interview so smooth they’re basically just going to give us the job,” says Darren.

“Yeah,” says Dax, “also, hey, did you want to stay over tonight? The interview place is like, way closer to me than it is to your place.”

Darren nods. “Yeah, that’d be cool. I’ll get my suit and stuff from my apartment and head over to your’s after work.”

“Cool,” says Dax.

There’s another pause. He should probably get back to work, and he should probably let Dax go too, but he wants to stretch the call a little longer.

“We looked so choice in those suits,” says Darren.

“Yeah,” says Dax.

Darren can tell he feels the same. He’s totally a pro at reading Dax’s phone voice. He closes his eyes, tipping his head back against the wall, the phone hot against his ear.

  
  


They arrive together for the interview. It’s a boring grey building, the inside polished and modern.

“Dude,” says Dax, “this place is like, so some spy shit.”

Darrens nods. He got pretty good at the Bluff City Zoo at making some things fronts for other things. He can tell a fake thing by looking at it.

He grins at Dax. They’re  _ so _ going to crush this interview. They’re basically espionage experts already.

The interview itself is… weird. The guy doesn’t introduce himself, for one thing, just shakes their hands and nods when they tell him their names. He asks a lot of the regular interview questions, what’s a time you have to solve a conflict, that sort of stuff, and then he takes them to a separate room where they take a driving test.

He and Dax play racing games like, all the time, so it’s totally no big deal that they get such high scores. Dax high fives him when they get out of the VR pod. Darren grins.

The man nods at the their scores, his face so neutral that Darren figures they  _ must _ have blown everyone away. He leads them back to the first room, leaving them alone for a few minutes. Dax and Darren grin at each other. Dax holds up his fist under the table and Darren bumps it.

The man returns with a new clipboard. "Thank you for waiting. Before we finalise this interview, is there anything else you would like to add?"

“Like what?” says Dax.

“Additional skills and training, that sort of thing,” says the man, “anything else you would like noted down.”

Dax thinks for a moment. "I can sneeze on command."

The man in suit raises his eyebrows, but he does write it down, so Darren figures it's a plus. It is a skill not everybody has. 

“We will be reviewing all applications this week and calling those who have been successful on Monday,” says the man, “I understand you have applied as a pair, so if you receive the call, it will be as a pair.”

“Cool,” says Darren, “thanks.”

As soon as their in the car, Dax lets out a whoop. Darren laughs, grabbing his shoulder.

“Dude!” says Darren, “ _ Dude _ !”

“ _ Dude _ !” says Dax, laughing, “Dude we’re going to be co-drivers, this is going to  _ rule _ .”

“Yeah!” says Darren, “we should totally do something to celebrate, like-”

“Just Dance for the PS4?” says Dax.

“Dude,  _ yes _ !” says Darren.

  
  


He spends more time at Dax’s place over the next week, only really going back to his apartment to grab a change of work clothes. Dax’s mom is totally chill about it, as long as they don’t get too loud after 11pm.

They play racing games to train themselves. They try watching some old spy movie too, but it’s not as fun.

“He just like, hit that woman for no reason,” says Dax, “I don’t want to do  _ that _ .”

“We probably won’t have to,” says Darren.

“Well I’m not going to,” says Dax.

“Yeah, no, me neither,” says Darren. He pauses, watching as James Bond paraglides into a woman’s home. “I don’t know if I want to do that either.”

“Yeah, it’s probably wicked dangerous to get it there that way,” says Dax, “Like, he could have taken a boat, or swam there, or whatever.”

“No, I mean like-” Darren waves his hand at the screen, as the film fades away to waving curtains of the woman’s room.

“Oh,” says Dax, “Yeah.” He pauses. “That’s kind of a fucked up part about spy stuff.” He pauses. “I’m not doing that either, unless I like, know the person and they say they’re chill about it ahead of time.”

Darren lets out a breath. “Yeah, totally, like… same.”

On the screen, James Bond starts chasing a dude down, and the movie gets much more interesting for both of them. Darren pays careful notice of when James Bond chooses to switch vehicles. They’re going to be drivers, so they’ll probably need to know that.

They play another racing game after. Dax leans into him as he goes around corners, warm against his side. Darren does it too, until they’re pressed against each other on the couch, racing to the finish line.

Dax wins, but it’s a close call.

  
  


Obviously, they get the call on Monday that they’ve got the job. Darren quits his zoo job, like, immediately.

“Same,” says Dax, “It was wicked hard to say goodbye to the lions though.”

“We can still go see them like every week,” says Darren.

“Yeah,” says Dax.

Darren slings his arm around Dax’s shoulder. “Come on dude, let’s do something to like, celebrate.”

They play Just Dance again, the music turned loud because Mrs Leopard is working late that night. Dax flops back onto the couch beside him, sweaty and grinning. The light of the game flickers over Dax’s face.

“You’re like, really good at this game,” says Darren.

“I practise like, all the time, so.”

“No, I can totally tell,” says Darren, “you just like-” he waves a hand, “-you like  _ know _ where the next note is going to be or something, it’s like, totally sick.”

Dax laughs, leaning further into him. “Thanks dude.”

The music plays on a loop on the menu screen, but Darren finds he doesn’t really want to look away from Dax to change it. Dax doesn’t look away from him either, and his smiles, the tilt of his head becoming Darren forward until their lips meet.

Later, Darren will realise that their first kiss had 30 seconds of a Janelle Monae song playing in the background, which totally rules. In the moment however, he’s only aware of Dax shifting to climb on top on him, the press of their bodies together.

After a moment, Dax leans back. His mouth is red, like when he’d eat the expiring-the-next-day icy poles out of the Zoo cafe freezer. The sight makes Darren want to lean in again, but he waits for Dax to speak, sliding his hands back and forth along Dax’s sides.

“Dude,” says Dax, voice quiet.

“Yeah,” breathes Darren.

They look at one another for a moment. Darren feels Dax twitch under his palms.

“Like…” Dax pauses, his voice still quiet, “we totally should have done that ages ago, right?”

Darren grins, warmth bubbling in his chest. “Oh my god,  _ totally _ .”

The meet halfway enthusiastically, and Darren laughs into Dax’s mouth, gasping a little as Dax deepens the kiss. This is totally their best idea ever, and Dax is  _ totally _ a genius.

They make out until they hear Mrs Leopard come home, yelling from the door to turn the music down. They both throw pillows in their laps before she comes into the lounge, but if Dax’s mom notices she doesn’t mention it.

They wait until she’s gone to bed before they head to Dax’s room, trying to be as quiet as possible.

“Hey, uh, so if you like, want to sleep on the air mattress tonight, that’s totally chill,” says Dax, “Just because we like, make out now or whatever doesn’t mean that we  _ have _ to like, sleep together.”

“No, dude, I know,” says Darren, “I like sleeping with you though, you’re like… mega comfy.”

Dax smiles. “Cool.”

Darren smiles back. “Cool.”

They do make out for a bit before they go to sleep. It feels  _ way _ too good not to, and also it’s super fun, so.

They get a call the next morning, instructing them on where to report for duty. Darren plays to call on speakerphone, so they can both listen while they eat breakfast.

“There will be a brief training seminar prior to your first mission,” says the automated voice, “please ensure that you ask your instructor all relevant questions prior to departure in your assigned pair.”

“Assigned pair!” says Dax, “Hey, that’s us!”

“Hell yeah,” says Darren.

They hive five.

  
  


The building they have to report to is a totally different one to where their interview was, but it’s the same grey style. The training is a lot like their interview, regular work safety stuff, mostly stuff Darren already knew, plus some other stuff about weapons and disguises which he  _ feels _ like he already knows from the James Bond movie they watched.

The tech is cool though. Darren takes the communicator and Dax looks over their vehicle.

“I kind of thought it would be cooler,” says Dax.

“The vehicle may look visually different when you reach your target location,” says the man. He hands them a file. “The vehicle will direct you to the location. You are to pick up the Agent in this file and take them to their secondary location.”

“Easy,” says Darren, “then what?”

“You will receive further instructions via the communicator,” says the man.

“Got it,” says Dax, holding up the communicator.

The man nods, and gestures to one of the other grey-suited guys to open the loading doors. Darren looks at Dax. Dax shrugs and holds up a hand. They do rock-paper-scissors, and Darren wins, so he goes to the driver’s side.

There’s a black and green screen built into the dashboard with an old-school map on it. As Darren starts the car it beeps into life, a small line of text scrolling along the bottom of the screen.

“It says we go out of here and then turn right,” says Dax.

Darren nods, pulling them out of the driveway and towards the highway. They drive in silence for a moment before Dax turns in his seat.

“Dude,” says Dax, “This is kind of like we’re being paid to go on a road trip.”

Darren grins. “We so are!”

They try to listen to the radio, but the car doesn’t seem to have one, so they play music off Dax’s phone while they drive. The highway turns to outer suburbs as they get closer to their location. They pull up beside a bus station at the same time as a bus takes off, leaving a few grey-suited people behind.

“Oh, hey, that’s the chick from the file,” says Darren.

Dax rolls down his window. “Yo! We’re your ride!”

The woman raises her eyebrows, stepping towards the car. “Agents…?”

“I’m Dax, this is Darren.”

“Sup?”

“We got told to take you to your, like, second location,” says Dax.

The woman nods, opening the door to get into the back seat.

“Dude you’re so good at this,” says Darren, “like, you already have it  _ down _ .”

Dax tilts his head, grinning. “Yeah, y’know, I guess I’m kind of a natural or whatever.”

“Totally,” says Darren.

The second location is across town, so Darren can totally see why she needed a ride. He’s never been to wherever this place is before but it seems to just go on forever. The woman nods to them as she gets out, heading into the open wetlands towards a section half-built homes.

“So like… what now?” says Dax.

Darren shrugs. “I guess we just cruise around until we get another call?”

Dax nods. He rolls down his window, letting the summer air blow through as they drive through the city.

“This,” says Dax, “is chill as hell.”

Darren hums in agreement.

They’ve been driving around for an hour or so when they get another call. Dax holds the communicator up to Darren’s ear so they can both hear, the voice on the other end of the line tiny through the tiny headphone speaker.

“Go to the next advise location. Agents are already in play. They request assistance to acquire an asset.”

“This,” says Dax, “is some secret agent shit.”

“Yeah,” says Darren.

He leans in quick, while their faces are close, and kisses Dax.

“What was that for?”

“I dunno,” says Darren, “felt cool to do though.”

Dax grins. “Yeah.”

He kisses Darren, nipping at his bottom lip. The screen beeps into life, and Dax groans.

“Man, who knew being super spies could be such a buzzkill?”

“We’ll probably get into trouble if we don’t go hit up this spot,” says Darren, “but afterwards I’ll park us somewhere, and we can, y’know. Check out the back seat.”

Dax brightens. “Cool.” He glances at the screen. “Take a left up here.”

The location’s only a couple blocks away. They must get there ahead of the crowd because there’s no one around except for a woman in a green wool skirt suit. As they get closer, they can see she’s standing over someone.

“Whoa,” says Darren, “Should we… help?”

“I guess,” says Dax, “Oh, hey, maybe she’s the asset we’re supposed to get. That’s totally secret agent talk.”

The woman looks at them warily as they approach. Darren opens his mouth to say hey before he looks down, grabbing onto Dax’s shoulder.

“Dude! I think that dude had a crab for a head!"

Dax bends, looking closer at the man on the ground. "I dunno man, crabs look different."

"Definitely some kind of crustacean, for sure. Or one of those things that like, lives in rocks."

"Maybe,” says Dax, “I mean, I was Great Cats, not like… the ocean.”

The woman clears her throat, bring their attention back to her.

"I'm, my name is Agent Ryder."

"Oh," says Dax, "we work with Agents.”

“Like, The Concern?”

“I dunno,” says Darren, “the organisation was unlisted.”

"Yes, I- listen, I'm trying to get somewhere, somewhere else, and I need transportation."

"That's us," says Dax, "get in."

"Wait-" Darren lowers his voice, leaning in close to Dax. "Didn't that guy say not to take, like, impromptu passengers?"

"Oh. Yeah…" Dax looks back up at Agent Ryder. "Sorry, it's against the rules or whatever."

"You have to put in a request," adds Darren. 

Agent Ryder blanches. "I… yes of course, but I, I'm kind of in a rush-"

There’s the sound of a car pulling to a stop, and two guys wearing suits get out, pulling guns out of their jackets as they run. The woman pales, taking half a step backwards.

“You!” yells one of the men, “grab the asset!”

Darren looks down at the crab man.

“No, he means me,” says Agent Ryder.

She reaches into her coat and draws out a gun.

“Whoa whoa whoa,” says Dax, “put that away!”

“What?” says Agent Ryder, “No way! Tell them that!”

“Hey!” yells Dax, “put those away!”

The agents fire over their heads. It was either a warning shot or they either have terrible aim, but Darren doesn’t particularly want to find out.

“Dax!”

“But we’re supposed to recover the asset!”

“Dude, good idea,” says Darren, “Hey, you should come with us.”

“What?”

The Agents fire again.

“Okay, sure,” says Agent Ryder, “We can work this out on the way.”

They sprint to the car, the smell of burning rubber filling the air as they speed away.

“Dude,” says Dax, as they turn a corner, “that was  _ sick _ .”

“Who  _ are _ you?” sys Agent Ryder.

“We’re drivers,” says Dax.

“For the  _ Concern _ ?” says Agent Ryder, “The  _ Concern _ hired you?”

“Sure,” says Darren, “we like, crushed the interview process. They like, were super desperate to hire us. I mean, who wouldn’t be.”

Darren nods, then frowns. “Hey, this things saying we’re like, fugitives or something.”

“For real?”

Dax holds up the earpiece so Darren can hear. The automated voice is definitely saying to arrest them, which totally sucks.

“This totally sucks,” says Darren, “I mean, this is our first day, you’d think they’d give us a break.”

“This is your  _ first day _ ?” says Agent Ryder.

“I know right?” says Darren, “like, cut us some slack or whatever.”

“You should probably let me out,” says Agent Ryder, “I...I’m the reason you guys are in trouble. If you let me out here, I’m sure you won’t get in too much trouble.”

“What about those guys who were chasing you?” says Darren.

“Hey, yeah,” says Dax, “What was  _ that _ about?”

“I- It’s complicated,” says Agent Ryder, “I was working for the Concern, which is who you two are working for by the way, and then we were on this case and I… I had to make a choice, to keep following order, or help someone. And I chose to help someone.”

“And they’re coming after you for  _ that _ ?” says Dax, “That sucks!”

Agent Ryder huffs a laugh. “I guess, yeah. I guess it does.”

Dax bounces in his seat, the way he does when he’s getting worked up about something.

“I don’t want to work for a place where helping people gets you in trouble,” says Dax, “that’s why I quit working for the zoo in the first place!”

“Wait,” says Darren, “I thought it was because we couldn’t work together anymore.”

Dax stills, putting a hand on Darren’s thigh. “I mean, that too dude. It was like, a multiple reasons thing.”

“Yeah, me too, I guess,” says Darren.

“Darren,” says Dax, voice serious, “I don’t want to work for somewhere that like, fires people for helping other people.”

“Okay,” says Darren, “Okay, so we’ll quit.”

“Yeah?” says Dax.

“Totally,” says Darren, “We don’t need these guys, we can go on our own cool road trips or whatever.”

“Before you go on the run,” says Agent Ryder, “Could you drop me off somewhere first?”

Darren blinks, his eyes flicking back to Agent Ryder in the rearvision mirror. “Sure, I guess. Where do you need to go?”

Agent Ryder makes a face. “It’s… pretty far. But if you drop me by the river I can make my own way there.”

“Nah, we can drive you there,” says Dax.

“I… it’s pretty far away,” says Agent Ryder, “Sort of.”

“Sure,” says Darren, “I mean, we just quit, so.”

“Oh, yeah, wait,” says Dax. He takes the communicator off his wrist, putting it close to his lips. “We quit!”

He winds down the window and drops it out. Darren barely hears it hit the group over the sound of their tires.

“Nice,” says Darren.

“Thanks,” says Dax. He turns in his seat. “So, yeah, we’re totally free, where did you need to go?”

Agent Ryder lets out a long breath. “Okay, so. It’s kind of a weird place. Head towards the river, and I’ll tell you.”

It’s a weird story, but Agent Ryder swears every word is true. Dax nods, and so Darren nods too. He parks by the river, the car rumbling underneath them.

"Here," says Agent Ryder, leaning forward to gesture toward the river, "Drive in there."

"In the  _ water _ ?"

"That's how you get there," says Agent Ryder, "trust me."

Dax shrugs. He looks at Darren. "Road trip?"

Darren nods. "Road trip."

He drives them in. Dax puts his hand over Darren’s on the gearstick, and the dark water around them seems way less frightening.

Whatever’s on the other side, he knows they’re totally going to crush it.

**Author's Note:**

> come say hi: mariusperkins on most places


End file.
